Andy Chatman’s Thailand Adventure

Wow, what a trip. I don’t want to bore people with stories about flying, but i’m going to put some of it here anyway so I’ll have a reminder. By the way, I’m 12 hours ahead of EST. It’s midnight here, so it’s about noon there earlier the same day.

I had dinner in NYC last night with my Aunt Aliza to start the celebration of her birthday which is next week. After, I found myself seeking out another major bug in the software that needed to launch before I left. At about 11:30PM I had a breakthrough, and finally buttoned things up by 2AM.

6AM got up and soon left for the airport. My flight was at 9:15. Cathay Pacific shares a Security checkpoint with a number of other international carriers including British Airways, and the lines were enormous. When I got to the Cathay Pacific counter to check in, a worker asked if I was alone, and then took me around a corner to the First Class checkin (even though I was economy). That meant no line to check in, and no line for security! A nice way to start the trip. When I got to the gate there were hundreds of poeple standing in a line to board. Ugh. But I asked the gate attendant if I had to stand in line, and he said no, those were all Chinese Citizens and I could just walk on. Wow!

Our flight was about to leave on time, but had to go back to the terminal before takeoff for a mechanical problem. After repair and deicing, we took off 2 hours late, which didn’t bode well for my 1-1/2 hour layover in Hong Kong. I wondered what I’d do if I missed my connection, since I wasn’t sure if my cell would work in Hong Kong, and I didn’t have my cousin’s contact info anyway! I decided “so what” and just enjoyed the ride, knowing I’d deal with whatever happened. The Boeing 777 was jam packed, with 385 people. 9 Seats across with 2 aisles. I have to say that this is hands down the best service I’ve ever experienced on any flight. Every detail was taken care of. They had slippers and a toothbrush waiting on our seat, the meals were awesome, the wine was free and the entertainment system contained 100 movies (I watched X-Files 2 and also some CIA movie with Leo DiCaprio) and tons of video games (hours of BeJeweled). I slept about 6 hours on the plane as well. I definitely had a language problem. The plane was full of Hong Kong natives returning after the New Year, and none of the people around me spoke English. Whenever I said anything, they just laughed in that way that people do when they can’t understand you. At least I felt as if I was very funny for 16 hours!

We made up time in the air and I made my connection by 10 minutes (my luggage made it too!). The trip from Hong Kong to Bangkok was about 2 hours, and I watched Family Guy and slept. I have to say that the Bose Noice Cancelling Headphones that Kevin lent me are a miracle. The engine noise disappears! It didn’t work too well on crying babies though. I think I’ll wear them to Thirsty’s some night, there’s a lot of background clutter there I’d love to cancel out

My cousin Mike met me when I was standing in the Customs line, and took me with his driver and security detail to a different line that nobody was in. Nice. We drove for about 30 minutes to his apartment where I had 30 minutes to clean up — we were going out to dinner with a bunch of his friends. I met two of his dogs at his apartment: Lucky — a 4 year old (can’t remember the breed — but a very well trained guard dog) and Elvis, a 7-week old Malanois — so cute! He’s in a toothy stage! I got dressed in the only pair of slacks I brought with me and met Mike and Lek in the kitchen. Elvis promptly grabbed my pant leg, and yanked, tearing a pretty nice hole in the pants! I used a piece of tape from the inside to hold them together and we headed out to the Chinese Restaurant at Bangkok’s most famous hotel, the Mandarin Oriental. Mike and Lek’s friends are terrific company, and we had an 8 (yes 8 ) course chinese meal that had everything: fish, shrimp, beef, chicken, tofu, etc. It was awesome. Of course the ladies asked if I was available, and when I said yes they immediately called one of the women’s cousins, Holly, who is apparently very attractive. We’re all getting together tomorrow night to celebrate one of the group’s birthday. Woohoo!

We got back a while ago, and after handling another bit of programming work i’m writing this message and heading to bed. Nothing important to do in the morning so I can sleep in and let my body restore itself. Mike has his own workout setup upstairs so I’ll check that out. He told me that Friday he’s arranged a private tour of the Royal Palace in the morning, then in the afternoon we’ll go to his river house.

I LOVE the comments everyone, it’s a taste of home. Hope you enjoy my posts.

Andy

We spent my first weekend in Thailand at Mike and Lek’s river house. It’s about 40 miles NW of Bangkok and lies on Thailand’s third largest river, Nakhon Chaisri.

The buildings sit on 20 acres. The main house is a work of art both inside and out. The attention to detail is just as I would have expected. The main floor is a greatroom which serves as the living area and dining room, with two-story ceilings everywhere except one corner, where the guest bedroom is situated half a story up. There is a kitchen tucked away around a corner where the cooking staff prepared meal after meal of the best thai food I’ve had.

My bedroom overlooks the outdoor pool. Most of the floors are 150-year-old very wide teak planks from China, with various tiles covering the rest. The entire house is windows, and you’re either looking out over the river or at the pool and yard.

The yard is beautifully landscaped, and currently serves as the main training area for the dogs. There is an air conditioned kennel about 200 yards from the house. Just beyond that is Mike’s aviary where there are about 17 rare and exotic birds, all in pairs and all talking. The aviary surrounds the gymnasium, where Mike also keeps his ham radio equipment and bikes. Just past the gymnasium is Mike’s observatory, an elevated dome above a warm room. The dome houses a 20″ RC scope. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to use the scope, as the sky is muddy from humidity this time of year. There is also a TMB 180mm refractor on a portable pier. Maybe next time!

Lek’s father lives in the original house on the property, across the service road. And her brother has a home which is currently being renovated. If you drive around the gym, you will wrap around to the backside of the kennels where two large fields are being prepared to take over the training. Alongside the fields, heading toward the river, is a long straight concrete driveway that doubles as an air strip for Mike’s r/c planes.

At the end of the runway there is construction going on, expected to be completed in 3 months. One building will be a 3-bedroom guest home, complete with common family room. Each bedroom has a large picture window overlooking the river. Next to this building is the new community center, where large parties will be held. It has its own kitchen and will have a wrap around deck. It’s L-shaped, and the L will be Lek’s spa, with massage, steam and other amenities. The new construction is separated from the main house by a narrow channel canal, but a small bridge will be in place soon so it won’t be necessary to drive all the way around the kennel to get to the new buildings.

Mike and Lek’s hospitality is no different here than in Bangkok — superb. They don’t dote on me, and allow me my own schedule.

Every meal is a wide range of thai dishes. The thai food here is nothing like at home — it’s very fresh and very spicy. There are always pork, shrimp, chicken and beef dishes, with soups and other side dishes. Last night I had squid, prawn (a little strange served with eyes still on board), beef, pork, soup — I’m not going hungry here! It’s good there’s a gym or I’d have trouble fitting in my jeans.

The main house with guest house to the right

The waterfront side of the house from the boat. The structure to the right is a patio/pavilion

The first two things you notice about the Chaisri River are 1) it is filled with floating water hyacinth, and 2) the direction of the current changes through the day coinciding with the tides. The river cuts through the the area of Thailand that was historically the center of Buddhism. As we traveled by motorboat, we saw many of the 100+ Temples lining both sides of the river, as well as many boats filled with Thai tourists there to connect with their Buddhist roots. Motor boats must slow to no wake as they pass temples, so our two hour trip was a constant shift from high to low speeds. Each morning I noticed boatloads of monks dressed in orange robes boating along the river seeking food donations from those who live along the shore.

There were areas where navigating through the thick patches of water hyacinth required puzzle-solving capability. Most of the homes along the river are not just modest, but often in terrible disrepair. These homes are passed down through generations of poor Thai families, who hold on to the properties rather than sell to wealthier locals and foreigners seeking prime waterfront property. Many of these families sustain themselves by cutting various fruits and vegetables, and transporting them to the numerous restaurants along the river where they sell their goods to the dining patrons right over the rail as they eat.

We boated about 45 minutes and reached one of the largest water markets in Thailand. The market is an expansive combination of docks and boats, some covered some not, filled with many hundreds of small booths selling every fruit, vegetable and food known to man. Clothing, fabrics and even electronics and games were also for sale. We purchased some interesting fruits and cakes for the ride back. On the way back we pulled up to a coconut-ice cream stand which was in reality two boats anchored in the river.

The two hour boat ride was fascinating, and a nice glimpse into traditional life along a Thai river. I couldn’t help but think that this is the type of place that Rambo spent his later years.

One of the the 100+ Buddhist Temples lining the river

Water hyacinth is thick in the river at points

Lek and Lucky

Modest and decaying homes line the river

Locals harvest fruits and vegetables to sell along the river

The water market goes on for many blocks, selling everything imaginable

The locals sell their harvest over the railings of restaurant-boats

Bert came to town on Friday from the River in advance of our boat trip today. A group went out to La Villa for dinner (Italian), including Dong, Maew, Captain, Holly and Fah. After dinner a bunch of us went out to a couple of clubs. The first was The Monkey Bar at Fallabela. Inside the Monkey bar was western style music while outside in the larger club hundreds of teenagers were listening to live Thai music. After a bottle of champagne, we left for another club, The Met (at the Metropolitan Hotel). The girls and Captain used to come here when it was trendy, but apparently it’s gotten less so. We had some more champagne, and Lek left to head home. The rest of us started dancing and didn’t stop until they closed down at 2AM. I can’t think of a more fun and beautiful group of women to have welcomed Valentines Day with. It was too late to be let in to Mike’s apartment, so I stayed in an extra room in the apartment Bert is using.

It’s Saturday and I’m headed to the gym before our trip to Pattaya. I’ll be offline while there.

Night Out - Dong, Bert, me, Holly, Maew

Yesterday was a restful day. I chose not to join the Flying Kikkerts on their second day of tourist activities and allowed myself to sleep in!! It’s a good thing — When their van reached the floating market they were stopped for having a tour guide in an unauthorized vehicle and they were all arrested and the car impounded. Mike was able to make a phone call and have them released.

Mike and I had lunch and then drove to the Emporium to do some shopping. When we got home, we decided to have a casual dinner at home, and we invited Lek’s friend Holly to join us. After dinner, I mentioned that I had wanted to see the view of the city from Vertigo, a bar at the top of the Banyan Tree Hotel (my friend Mark Frisk had sent me an article about this before my trip) so off I went with Holly, thankfully transported by her driver! The hotel was a block away from the Met where we had been dancing on Friday. 59 elevator floors + 2 climbed flights later, we were at a beautiful open air bar on the roof of the hotel enjoying the view. I hadn’t brought my camera, so I asked the group at the next table if they would take our photo and email it to me. I hope they don’t forget to send it.

We were talking about how my trip was ending in a little over a day and how I wasn’t ready for that, and Holly suggested that if I was enjoying myself I change my flight. Those of you who know me well know that I often don’t consider such major changes in plans, especially when so many others will be affected (I’d be imposing on my cousin for several more days, my brother has been taking care of my dogs, etc.). But the simple fact was that the second she made the suggestion I knew that it was what I was going to do. I got up very early knowing that Mike would be up, and after clearing the extended stay with him I changed my flight home until Monday.

So right now I’m back at the river house until Saturday, getting to know an incredible 8 week old Malinois puppy named Elan (hmmmm), and then Sunday I will enjoy my last day in Bangkok before leaving on Monday.

So far my final weekend has been spent back at the river. I’m glad I got to come back here, it’s a special and beautiful place. Part home, part resort, part dog kennel. From hour to hour the role of the property changes and it becomes interesting in different ways.

This afternoon Mike and I balanced his magnificent TMB180 refractor on the Takahashi mount, and had hoped to use the telescope tonight. But late in the afternoon some clouds rolled in. While later in the evening the zenith became clear, we had no view of Polaris (very low in the sky at this latitude) to align the scope. So this is something for the next trip.

Bert and his family are leaving this weekend, so Lek and Mike threw Bert a going away party, which included the entire staff as guests. We ate outdoors on the patio (I can’t really find another word for it, but patio doesn’t do it justice). It was cute at the end of the night, I had mentioned that I liked being called “Sir Andy” by Nini, one of Lek’s staff from the Phillipines, and Bert’s daughter didn’t understand why I liked it. So I told her the story of King Arthur and his Knights, a story she had never heard in Holland.

Today I spent a lot of time with Elan, daughter of Donna and Cartouche. I’d been considering Mike’s offer from 2 weeks ago to take home one of his Malinois puppies, and now after spending so much time watching the dogs and understanding the breed I have decided to bring Elan back. Actually Mike is sending it soon. I think Arleigh and Monty will like her. At least I hope so!!

So tomorrow (Saturday) back to Bangkok for the rest of the weekend, and this time no more trip extensions, I head home Monday. Still two days of adventure left and I’m looking forward to every minute!

Meet Elan! She's going to live with me

A portion of the outdoor party area

A toast to Bert!

The Siam Crown team and Samphran staff

Once Mike and Lek left for Bahrain, I tried to figure out what “Buddhist-Casual” clothing was and prepared for my day of meditation. At 9AM Holly picked me up and we drove to a Buddhist Spiritual Center near the Emporium where we were going to meditate with Ajahn Brahm, a famous teacher of meditation originally from England, now living in Australia. We got there early and met up with Holly’s friend, Na. Na spoke terrific english, and when i asked why he told me that he was raised in California, and had gone to undergrad school at the U of R! That was quite a surprise. Ajahn Brahm is impressive. although his style of speaking is at times so calm that it can be difficult to keep attention. After an hour and a half lecture, he led the group in a 30 minute meditation session before breaking for lunch. We weren’t keen on the box lunch so we ate Vietnamese food at the food court at the Emporium while deciding whether to go back for the second half of the program. We ultimately decided not to, but when holly and I got back to the car we found ourselves blocked in by 4 vehicles. Fortunately the practice is to leave the cars in neutral so for 10 minutes we moved the cars back and forth until Holly was clear (there was a very nice guy in the garage who helped us out).

The afternoon was spent back at the apartment, where Holly and I relaxed and listened to music. At lunch Na had recommended Arun Residence, a beautiful restaurant on the River near the Royal Palace and Wat Pho, for dinner and had made reservations for Holly and I to have a ringside view of the sun setting over Wat Arun. My attempt to plug the address into her GPS, which is completely in Thai, didn’t go so well, but ultimately her brother (over the phone) got us close. We were able to zero in on the restaurant based on a sketch I made from a map on their website. The view didn’t disappoint. After dinner, we went by Tuk Tuk (a small motorized open-air taxi) to an area not far away known for it’s nightlife — clubs, bars, outdoor bands, it’s a lively place. We ended up at a jazz club where we met up with Y who works in the attached art gallery. From there we collected Holly’s car and drove to the home of another friend, Monika, who was being visited by B. Monika opened up a delicious bottle of Dom Perignon, and after that was gone we headed out to Bed, a nightclub with great dance music and beds instead of tables. After a while we were exhausted and called it a night.

Lek’s driver took me to the airport at 9AM for my flight home. I can’t believe I’ve been here for just about 3 weeks. It feels like I’ve taken several trips in that time period. I was hoping for certain things on this trip and they were all realized and then some! I had wanted to travel to places I had never been and begin to see the world differently. I wanted to get to know my cousin Mike better, since I had only seen him a handful of times in the last 20 years. I was hoping to meet interesting people and make new connections in my life. I wanted to photograph beautiful sites that I had never seen before. I wanted to remind myself that there are such incredible opportunities and possibilities out there that I didn’t need to limit myself to the life I had been living. All of these have been accomplished. Then there were the unexpected things — getting closer to Mike’s wife Lek than I thought I would, creating some real friendships with exciting and interesting people (not the least of which is Bert Kikkert but including Mike and Lek’s great group of friends as well as Holly’s friends), deciding to bring home a puppy from Mike’s kennel, having some wonderful and educational conversations with Mike who has memories of my family’s past that I don’t, and extending my trip to spend time with a wonderful and special person. Mike is a terrific person, with varied interests (many of which overlap mine, such as astronomy, photography and dogs) and a desire to share them with others. While he lives a lifestyle that i will likely never reach myself, he is most happy when allowing friends to share that lifestyle with him. Lek is quite something. She’s interesting, dynamic, and her classy group of lifelong friends are a testament to the type of person she is. The two of them are such gracious hosts and they made this trip into something I could never have imagined. And I have to say something about the dogs. I absolutely fell in love with Lucky the Dutch Shephard. He is a special animal. And the joy of having puppies around wherever we spent our time was a happy unexpected bonus. I’m glad I blogged this trip as events unfolded, I’m afraid that after having experienced so much that there is no way I could have remembered the details and nuances without writing them down. What is most exciting for me is to see what happens next. The only thing I’m sure of is that from here on out nothing will be quite the same. To those of you who have taken time to read my posts and even comment back, I thank you for maintaining my connection to home while I was away.

With Holly along the river overlooking Wat Arun

Traveling by Tuk Tuk

This is Y

At Nightclub Bed

B and Monika at Bed